Google Blatantly Copies Yahoo!? — I'm not sure if this is stupidity, laziness, or a mix of both, but check this out. — Back when IE7 launched, Yahoo! created a customized version and began to market it to our existing IE users. The "splash page" looked like this:

Squeezing Money From the Music — "Konvicted," a new CD from Akon, promised to be one of the year's big sellers when it appeared in record stores last month. Buoyed by two of the hottest singles in the country, Akon, a silky-voiced R&B singer, even had the most-viewed page among major label acts on MySpace.com.

Exclusive: Google's Click Fraud Rate is Less than 2% — Back in November, Google's business product manager for trust and safety, Shuman Ghosemajumder, declared that click fraud at Google was "on average is in the single digits, quarter over quarter." I recently sat down with Ghosemajumder …

On Windows Live Re-Rebranding as MSN — I've had a number of people mention the article about Steve Berkowitz and MSN/Windows Live in the New York Times entitled Looking for a Gambit to Win at Google's Game which contains a bunch of choice negative quotes about our products supposedly from Steve Berkowitz.

Desperately seeking Zune — reporter's notebook SAN FRANCISCO—Welcome to the social. — That's the promise Microsoft makes with its new Zune. Unlike the solitary iPods, the digital music player lets you make new friends and discover new music. Using its built-in Wi-Fi …

WIKIA UNVEILS OPENSERVING - THE MOTHER OF ALL FREEBIES — New Web Business Model: Get Rich Using Wikia's Services for Free! — Wikia, Inc., the leading provider of community resources for building free content on every topic, today announced OpenServing (http://www.OpenServing.com) …

Goodbye flash memory, hello "phase-change" memory? — If IBM, Macronix, and Qimond have their way, the now ubiquitous flash memory could soon be on its way out, replaced by the new-and-improved "phase-change" memory developed by the trio of companies. While complete details on this catchily-named …

YouTube Adds a Layer of Filtering to Be a Little Nicer — When the video-sharing site YouTube.com was sold to Google, many of its users worried that corporate ownership would restrict the content of its videos. But now one of YouTube's corporate partners is changing the ways that users comment on those videos instead.

Times Sq. Ads Spread Via Tourists' Cameras — Advertisers have long been drawn to Times Square as a valuable place to reach consumers, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for space on billboards and blazing video screens. — But recently they have discovered that down on the ground …

Why digg is destined for failure — If you've ever had the good fortune of having one of your websites or blog posts dugg to the point of showing up on digg's homepage, you've enjoyed a huge traffic boost to your site. This is wonderful for web publishers, and I'm not going to lie …

The Anti-Google FAQ — The year 2006 is nearing its inevitable end, but a lot of unanswered questions remain - I hope to answer some of them in this little Anti-FAQ. — How can I get banned from Google's web index? — There's a variety of methods to get "googleaxed."

Metacafe Traffic Dips, Acquisition May Have Stalled — The rumors around a possible Metacafe acquisition continue to swirl around silicon valley, with Yahoo or Microsoft being considered the most likely acquiror, at a $300 millionish acquisition price. Another potential acquiror …